Kicking off the lineup is Jen from the fabulous blog Adventures of a 30 Something!

She’s been one of my closest friends since 5th grade (!), and from first boyfriends to being bridesmaids in each others’ weddings we’ve been fixtures in each others’ lives for almost as long as I can remember.   Ah, the tales we could tell.  :)  (I almost put in a horrendous picture of us from 1992 but I decided to do us all a favor and spare your eyeballs.)

Anyhoo, I was so excited when Jen started her blog back in November of last year, and she has quickly smitten the blog world with her amazing recipes and adventures around San Antonio with her husband, Kyle, and trusty weiner dog named Frank.  Without further adieu, here’s Jen!

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Hello fellow IGTBH fans! I’m Jen from Adventures of a 30 Something and Liz kindly invited me to do a guest post – thanks Liz!

I have found that cooking is MUCH more appealing when you have fun toys! I wanted to share a few of my latest favorites with you guys today:

1. Olive oil mister – this awesome tool requires only a few pumps, then gives you a continuous spray of whatever type of olive oil you fill it with. It is so handy and functions like a cooking spray but without all the additives. My favorite use so far is spraying corn tortillas on both sides before warming in the oven 3 minutes at 350° – this is a little trick I learned from Rick Bayless that will leave you with pliable ready to roll corn tortillas and you can avoid the old school, time consuming (and calorie adding) way of preparing them in oil stove top. It is also handy for spritzing a salad or veggies, or for spraying a pan before cooking.

2. Pasta measure – Before buying this little guy I would always eyeball the amount to cook – I usually do half regular and half whole wheat spaghetti, so that makes eyeballing it even trickier! Many times I would end up with too much or not enough. Now I know exactly what I will get, and as someone who hates to throw away food, that is really helpful!

3. Herb keeper - Until I finally get my act together and plant the herb garden I have been telling myself to plant for a while now, this is helping me keep fresh herbs handy. You add an inch or so of water to the base, stand up your herbs, pop it into your fridge door, and it will keep them fresh and ready to use for about 2 weeks! Hooray!

4. Immersion blender – I absolutely love this tool! Now that the weather is warming up my Cuisinart Smartstick Hand Blender is getting a little rest since I use it most often to make soups. A couple of my favorites are Spicy Black Bean and Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper (check out the links for more on those). Basically, this allows you to keep everything in the pot without having to go back and forth from a traditional blender to a pot, and I have found that it tends to get absolutely everything in the pot blended where a traditional blender often misses an onion that sticks to the side or a chunk of garlic that gets caught in the base…

5. Rotary grater - I can’t believe I ever bought pre-shredded Parmesan cheese…it is so much better freshly shaven with a rotary grater.

I thought I would share a quick and easy spaghetti recipe with you today that uses a number of these tools:

Spaghetti with Beef, Mushrooms, and Tomato Sauce

• Spaghetti pasta (I use 1/2 regular and 1/2 whole wheat – 1.5 servings of each with the pasta measure tool will make 3-4 servings)
• 24 oz jar tomato sauce (I use Classico sauces, usually either Tomato & Basil or Spicy Tomato & Basil)
• 1/3 lb ground beef sirloin
• 1/3 lb sliced cremini mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• fresh basil leaves, chopped
• Parmesan cheese & rotary grater

Prepare pasta according to package. Spray a sturdy pan with olive oil and set over medium heat. Add minced garlic and beef. Once beef is browned, add mushrooms. Once mushrooms begin to wilt, stir in tomato sauce and red pepper flakes. Turn heat to low, cover, and allow sauce to simmer 10-20 minutes. Add chopped basil just prior to serving and serve with Parmesan cheese (and rotary grater, of course).

What tools do you have in your kitchen that make cooking more fun?

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Thanks, Jen!  You guys should definitely swing by Jen’s blog to check out her recipes – I’ve been trying them and they’re delish!  Jason is obsessed with making one of her salsa recipes, and I definitely can’t complain about that!